The #1 Marketing Strategy That Positions You as an Authority

You don't actually have to wait until you feel like the absolute top expert in your field to step into thought leadership. The truth is, thought leaders are made, not born, and you develop influence by consistently showing up, sharing your take on things and demonstrating your expertise in action.

This is the entrepreneur school podcast where we believe you can run a thriving business and still make your family a priority. This show is all about supporting you the emerging or early stage Entrepreneur on your journey from solopreneur to CEO while wearing all of the other hats in your life. My name is Kelly Sinclair, and I'm a brand and marketing strategist who started a business with two kids under three. I'm a corporate PR girl turned entrepreneur after I learned the hard way that life is too short to waste doing things that burn you out. On this show, you'll hear inspiring stories from other business owners on their journey and learn strategies to help you grow a profitable business while making it all fit into the life that you want. Welcome to entrepreneur school.

Hey there. Welcome back to entrepreneur school. I have a question for you. Have you ever considered what it means to be a thought leader? Maybe you've heard this term thrown around, but you're not really sure what it means or why it should matter to you as a business owner, or how it applies depending on the stage of business that you're at and what your goals are. Well, today we're going to dive into thought leadership, what it is, why it's such a powerful tool for positioning yourself as an expert, and most importantly, how you can apply it to your business, and that goes for whether you offer services or sell products. Because I think this is a really important topic and a really core element to building your brand, to establishing yourself as a unique provider in whatever it is that you do and to enter into conversations that are bigger than just your offers. So what exactly is thought leadership? Well, in simple terms, a thought leader is someone who is recognized as an expert in their field, not just because they know their stuff, but because they actively share their insights, ideas and perspectives in a way that influences others. Thought Leadership is about more than just having knowledge. It's about having an opinion and sharing it. It's about taking a stand, shaping conversations and offering unique perspectives that help others see things in a new way. This is what makes your perspective influential. When you consider how you share your ideas and you do so consistently, it challenges conventional thinking, and people start to recognize you as someone who isn't just repeating what everyone else is saying. You're actually leading the conversation. And that may sound a little bit intimidating, but believe me, it doesn't have to be, and this is the key.

You don't actually have to wait until you feel like the absolute top expert in your field to step into thought leadership. The truth is, thought leaders are made, not born, and you develop influence by consistently showing up, sharing your take on things and demonstrating your expertise in action, and you don't have to be talking about Nobel Prize winning topics. Here, it's just as easy as getting on your phone and recording a short video for social media or having a conversation in a group of people at a networking event or getting on a podcast or speaking to the media about it. All of these are different levels of thought leadership, so let's talk about how this matters for your business. The answer is really simple, and it is trust. People do business with those who they trust, and being a thought leader builds trust faster than any other marketing tactic out there. When you establish yourself as an expert, people feel more confident buying from you, and that goes for whether you're offering a service, a coaching program or a physical product. Here is the magic part. Thought Leadership gives you visibility when you're constantly sharing your expertise, whether through social media, podcast interviews, speaking engagements or written content, you're showing up in places where your ideal clients and customers are already hanging out. And that means more recognition, more credibility, and ultimately, more business.

One of the most important aspects of thought leadership is deciding what you want to be a thought leader on. So this isn't just about the products or the services that you sell. It's about the bigger conversation that you want to lead in your industry. So ask yourself, do. When people think of my business, what do I want them to associate it with? So for example, if you own a clothing boutique, yes, you're selling clothes, but maybe your bigger mission is actually about empowering women to feel confident in their own skin. That means your thought leadership topics might go beyond fashion trends and styling tips to also include conversations about body positivity and self expression through clothing. If you run a natural product store, your business isn't just about selling skin care or natural cleaning products, maybe your thought leadership extends into the broader mission of educating people about reducing their toxic load, making sustainable choices, or advocating for cleaner beauty standards in the industry for service based business owners, the simple this principles is the same. If you're a business coach, your thought leadership might not just be about business strategy, it could actually extend into mindset shift that entrepreneurs need, breaking the cycle of hustle culture or redefining success on your own terms. That is what makes thought leadership powerful. It's not just about what you sell. It's about the bigger mission behind what you do.

So how does this actually work? Let's break it down with some real world examples and go back to the three that I just mentioned. So let's go to the clothing boutique. On the surface, yes, selling clothes, but in reality, you're an expert in styling. Every piece that you curate and bring into your store is done so with intention. You know what works together. You know what will look good on people, and you also know how to help them express their own personal style or find it if they don't think that they have one. So instead of just posting about new arrivals, what if you started sharing styling tips? You could start talking about how to dress for different body types, how to mix and match pieces to create a capsule wardrobe. What colors are trending this season by sharing your expertise, you're really not just sharing clothes, but you're positioning yourself as the go to stylist for your customers. And if your broader mission is about confidence, you can also talk about how fashion impacts self esteem, how to dress in a way that makes you feel empowered if you have a personal story that relates to this, that's even more powerful and ultimately, what you're doing is building a reputation, not just as a clothing boutique, but as a place that people can come and feel more confident when they leave and know that they have guidance when they walk through your Doors to help them with their style challenges versus just the task of buying a new shirt or a new pair of shoes. So for the natural product store owner, you are an expert in what natural ingredients are. What if you started educating people on the benefits of natural alternatives, you could create content around reading ingredient labels, comparing natural versus chemically developed products, maybe offering swap ideas or even showcasing some DIY recipes or home remedies. And so now, when somebody thinks about clean living, they are thinking about you and your business, not just where do I go to refill my deodorant once every three months? And for those of you who are offering services, thought leadership is almost a little more obvious, because you're selling your brain, and people need to know that you're an expert in what you do.

So back to the business coach, instead of just promoting your coaching program and the results that it creates, you can start by sharing insights on the biggest mistakes that entrepreneurs make, strategies for scaling without burnout, mindset shifts that lead to success. This positions you as someone who not only provides value, but deeply understands the struggles that your clients face, and that is what makes people want to work with you. When you get that whole oh my gosh, she's in my head. I need to work with this person because she knows exactly how I'm feeling, exactly what I'm trying to do, exactly what I want, so she must exactly be my solution. So let's talk a bit about actually sharing thought leadership. And this is something that I believe deeply. Every piece of content that you create should have a minimum of two purposes. So this is not just about upgrading your social media content. That's not just what we're talking about here, though it certainly will do that.

But let's think bigger. Consider how you can repurpose your ideas across different platforms, particularly your direct communication channels. So for email marketing, we've said this on the podcast before, your email list, your client list, your customer base, is your most valuable asset. And use it to regularly share insights, industry trends, personal stories, things that reinforce your expertise and continue to position you as the expert in your field. Podcast and speaking engagements can be good. This, again, depends on who you're trying to reach. Audience alignment is always the key to choosing any platform for any type of activity, but whether this is having your own podcast or guest appearances on others, when you share your thought leadership in an audio format, it really helps build a deep connection with your audience. And you can even think big, like media features getting featured in industry publications, online magazines, news outlets, that is definitely a big flag around authority to a broader audience, and so we just need to think about when it's appropriate to try and reach this kind of an audience.

And lastly, blog posts and articles. So if you like writing, if that's more your style, you could create online written content which can be repurposed into social media or emails or podcast topics or submitted to industry publications for like guest feature columns and all of those kinds of things. So by strategically sharing your thought leadership in multiple places, you are amplifying your impact to ensure that your message reaches more of the right people, and that is the goal.

So to help you get clear on your thought leadership focus, I have five questions for you to ask yourself. Okay, so I hope that you have a notepad handy, or you can come back to this part of the podcast when you are back at your desk or whatever you're doing. I know I'm often listening to podcasts when I'm driving. So number one, what unique perspective do I have that challenges the status quo in my industry? For me, it's about visibility, without social media, without relying on social media. Anyways. Two, what are the bigger conversations that I want my business to be a part of? Three, beyond my products or services, what do I want to be known for? This is a big question, so I really encourage you to journal on that or think that through regularly or with a dedicated amount of time so that you can give it the thought that it deserves. Number four, what recurring themes or questions come up in conversations with my clients or customers? These are content ideas that you can expand upon and number five, how does my personal story or journey shape the insights that I can share with others? So this is where you get the opportunity to talk about why you believe what you believe, or why you started the business that you started, and create those connection points with your potential customers. And that's a huge advantage, because connection creates relationships, and relationships are the foundation of trust.

So here's your challenge. Think about just one topic related to your business that you could start sharing more insights on. It doesn't have to be complicated, just something that you know really well and that would be valuable for your audience. And don't start going all over the place, because we don't want to look disjointed. As far as you know, you're talking about this now, or you're talking about that now, and it kind of creates confusion amongst your audience. So pick one thing and then try and like create a variety of different ways to talk about that one particular topic and see how it goes. And if you want to chat about it, please feel free to message me on Instagram, @ksco_Kelly, let me know what your topic is. If you want to brainstorm it out, I would love to hear what you are working on. So until next time, next week, same time, same place, keep showing up, keep sharing your expertise. Keep building the business that's aligned with you. I'll talk to you soon.